Tyler Myers

January 29, 2013

After starting the season 2-0, in large part due to finding themselves the beneficiary of some calls that usually tend to go against them, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves at 2-3 after five games.

I'm digging a season where every game matters, by the way.

By no means are the Sabres in panic mode after dropping three straight. But given this abbreviated campaign, wins and losses at least seem to carry more weight than usual -- even though I keep telling myself it's still all relative.

That said, this type of situation certainly makes me feel like I'm much more justified when overreacting to what's going on on the ice. So maybe you think I'm crazy when I suggest that the Sabres trade Tyler Myers as soon as possible.

There are three main reasons I say this: 1) The Sabres are in need of an elite center, 2) they desperately need more offensensive weapons than merely Thomas Vanek, and 3) Tyler Myers apparently is a 6-8 pussy.

Despite adding some much-needed grit to the lineup with the additions of Steve Ott, John Scott, and Marcus Foligno, I'm still convinced the Sabres are two bold moves away from being taken seriously. Assuming one of these bold moves isn't going to be a change behind the bench, the next best thing is to go after Ryan Getzlaf (which I wrote about last season and would link to right now if I weren't using a work computer with a Windows 1927 browser).

It seemed to be conventional wisdom last year that a trade for Getzlaf started and ended with Tyler Myers. Assuming this were even possible this year, I doubt Darcy Regier would move him (which is another issue unto itself, but I digress), but I think you at least offer him up.

Maybe this is what you should expect from a 22-year-old who throws a $10 million signing bonus in the bank, but if all you're going to get out of a 6-8 defenseman is a guy who can skate the puck out of the zone (when he's not putting the puck right on an opponent's tape), well, we've already got four other ones who can do that.

Put simply, if you're not going to use a 6-8 frame to bruise the opposition, you're not worth very much (and certainly not $5 million a year). Now that Grigorenko is up for the year, I can't off the top of my head think of any center in the league who'd be better than Getzlaf at showing the new kid the ropes on the job. To say nothing about the instant firepower you'd add to both regular shifts and the power play. And Getzlaf's also 6-4.

I'm not arguing the Myers can't or won't improve. After all, you'd have to count on the Ducks valuing him as highly as they value Getzlaf (maybe even a little less given that Getzlaf's in a contract year). This move would be risky because Getzlaf is a free agent at the end of the season, but I'd think Regier would be able to offer him several million good reasons to stick around in Buffalo, especially with Myers's salary off the books.

I was happy to read today that Robyn Regehr and Alex Sulzer are going to be scratched in favor of Mike Weber and T.J. Brennan tonight. It shows that perhaps nothing is set in stone on the back end. But with eight NHL defenseman on the roster, you have to think there are some moves in the works.

Brennan, especially, needs to be playing every night now that he appears to have proven he's ready for a full time gig in the bigs. He can't be sent to Rochester because he'd almost certainly be claimed immediately. And if his AHL fight two weeks ago against Syracuse Crunch winger Richard Panik is any indication (Panik gave rookie Zemgus Girgensons a concussion with a cheap hit), he's already proven he's tougher than Myers too.

The biggest disappointment for me so far this year is the absence of Brayden McNabb, who last year looked like he was poised to give this team a much-needed physical upgrade on defense for years to come. At 6-4 himself and now a 2013 AHL all-star, he belongs with the parent club as well.

The Buffalo Sabres are stacked at D. It's time to utilize Myers's greatest asset -- his trade value -- to simultaneously add some more size and spark down the middle while making room for defensemen who are willing to clear the front of the net and make their opponents pay the price in the corners.

March 14, 2012

Tyler Myers was slapped with a three-game suspension by Brendan Shanahan for boarding Scott Gomez during Monday's night's game against the Canadiens.

Forget the fact that there's no apparent attempt by Myers to injure on the hit, or that it should be acceptable to attempt to injure dickheads like Scott Gomez. Admittedly, Myers probably deserved a game or, more appropriately, a fine for the play. But Gomez was playing the puck and, despite the fact that Myers has almost a foot on him, he still hit Gomez on the shoulders.

If you recall, I went on record saying that Shanahan made the right call when he decided not to fine or suspend Milan Lucic when he steamrolled Ryan Miller. However, for a league that supposedly wants to eliminate hits to the head, it's patently absurd that Shanahan deemed Lucic's hit acceptable while determining that Myers's was worth a three-game suspension.

The Sabres are being diplomatic about the suspension. I, on the other hand, have no such obligation. Brendan Shanahan is a fucking assbag.

March 02, 2012

Time flies when you're having fun... and replacing water heaters, and alternators, and furnaces, and laptops. I turn my back for a minute and the Sabres go on a 10-3-3 tear. To be honest, I've been watching most of the games or, at the very least, parts of most of the games. I just haven't had time to sit and type up my thoughts lately, but Trevor and Erik have been holding down the fort admirably.

The Sabres, with rare exception, have always been a second half team. It would appear that this year is no exception. The thing is, they aren't scoring any more goals than they were before the break. The good news, though, is the goals are starting to come from sources other than Vanek and Pominville. For example, is it possible that Drew Stafford is trying to reignite my man-crush with him? I had all but given up on him ever scoring on a regular basis again, yet here he is racking up points all of a sudden. I said in a prior post (that I'm too lazy to go get the link for - I guess that "Sabre mentality" is rubbing off on me) that his play has been there all along and if anyone on this team was truly snakebit it was him. He's proving that persistence pays off as things finally start to go his way. Derek Roy is another guy who is finally starting to find the net. Pat Kaleta continues to impress me with solid play every night. The team has definitely rallied since the break and, as a whole, is showing passion and fire consistently. Heck, Tyler Myers actually dropped the gloves in Anaheim! Who needs more proof than that?!?

But as far as I'm concerned, the success of this team since January rests squarely on the shoulders of one Ryan Miller. As I said, the team isn't scoring any more goals than they were in the first half of the season. But they aren't giving up nearly as many either. Some of that can be attributed to better back checking and guys actually getting in lanes and blocking shots. Some of it can be attributed to a noticable decrease in the amount of bone-headed turnovers in the defensive zone. But most of it is a direct result of Ryan Miller finally shaking off the funk he's been in and playing like an absolute beast between the pipes. In the past three weeks, we've seen him play stellar hockey. And back-to-back shutouts in two nights? I think that's a first for him. And I'm not talking "Ryan Miller shutouts"... I'm talking legit goose eggs.

There are many Ryan Miller detractors, of which I've been one lately. But no one can argue with his recent play. Forty-three saves in Anaheim? Thirty-nine in San Jose the very next night? Are you kidding me? Don't get me wrong, I still have my concerns... he does disappear for long stretches, and he's a whiney little bitch when things don't go his way. Look at his commets earlier this week about his boyfriend, Paul Gaustad, being traded. But when he turns in all-star performances like he has been lately, it's hard not to want him on your team. But, Jesus, some consistency would be nice.

It boils down to this. When he plays well, the team wins. When he doesn't, they lose. It's as simple as that. I don't think Enroth gives you that. So if you don't like that model, you have two options. Find another goalie who can provide that level of play on a more consistent basis, or go to a lesser-skilled minder and stack the team in front of him and hope you can outgun the other guys on a nightly basis.

If it sounds like I'm changing tack and saying Ryan Miller is our savior, that's not the case at all. But he IS winning us games right now. If he can keep his head straight and do it regularly, then he should rightfully have a place as the starter on this team. I'm just afraid that he'll keep this up long enough to save his job and that's all.

January 09, 2012

Well, technically they're 0-1-1 but whatever. Looks like the team is going to have to find yet another panacea du jour for getting back to the win column, because anyone with an IQ above room temperature knows the Sabres' injuries have played a very minimal role in their lackluster performance of late.

Obviously injuries aren't irrelevant, but what's pissed off Sabres fans the most over the past month or so is twofold: 1) the club's propensity to place more emphasis on making excuses for losses than on finding ways to win, and 2) the front office's insistence upon pussyfooting around with a GM/head coach tandem that has overstayed its welcome while yet another (potentially salvageable) season washes down the drain.

As I've mentioned several times before, injuries are not the problem. No one wants to be without guys like Tyler Myers and Christian Ehrhoff, but players get hurt; good teams can accommodate short-term injuries.

Take a look at the D right now. The Sabres are absent Christian Ehrhoff and Andrej Sekera. If you plan to argue that Sekera is any sort of significant loss whatsoever, please pass the hooka now because I need some of what you're having. And Ehrhoff wasn't even on the team last year yet it found a way to make the playoffs without him.

So this year -- right now, even without Ehrhoff -- the Sabres' defensive corps has Myers, Leopold, and Weber -- all holdovers from last season -- only they've exchanged guys like Morrisonn, Butler, Montador, and Rivet for Regehr, McNabb, and Gragnani.

Would anyone out there actually take last year's lineup over the one that will take the ice tomorrow night against Toronto, even absent Ehrhoff and Sekera for now? I sure as hell wouldn't.

Injuries are not the problem. Hell, most Sabres fans would tell you that the reason the team got it together last year was because Derek Roy missed most of the season. If that's the case, what's the excuse now? That underachiever Tyler Ennis is still out? Please.

When Lindy Ruff has the luxury of making Zack Kassian a healthy scratch -- which, if you ask me, is just plain stupid -- you can't really bitch about injuries. I love Matt Ellis. Would that even half the team had his fucking heart. But the guy looks like a cat in a bathtub when he stickhandles, and you play him over Kassian? If anything, maybe try playing him in addition to Kassian and benching any forward not named Vanek or Pominville for a game or two. Gee, there's a thought.

Injuries are not the problem. However, Ryan Miller sucks. The forwards making $4 million a year couldn't hit a 25-cent whore with a roll of quarters in their pocket, much less the back of a net. Lindy Ruff allows/encourages soft play and from what I can tell has essentially lost his team. Blah, blah, blah.

So what cosmic events have conspired to cause this perfect storm of shittiness? Who knows? Probably a lot of things, and most likely many intangible ones at that. I've never been the kind of person to advocate change simply for the sake of changing, but you can't fix intangibles without changing the tangibles. It's already 2012. They're long overdue.

There's a reason a team with the third-highest payroll in the league can't win. There's a reason it doesn't retaliate against a team that runs its goaltender. There's a reason it refuses to lay bodychecks on an equally weak team that's obviously travel weary.

There's always a reason for everything. I'd love to get paid to figure it out if the Sabres would like to give me a shot. After all, I'd love the job security.

January 05, 2012

I almost never have time most nights to sit down and watch anything real time, but I managed to take some notes during Tuesday night's game while I was watching the tape. I figured I'd post my exact comments as I jotted them down and then elaborate now if necessary.

First Period

- T.J. Brennan is good and is going to be very good. Sweeps puck out of the crease less than three minutes into the game and saves what certainly would've been an easy tap-in for Edmonton.

(Buffalo is without Ehrhoff, Sekera, and Myers but I really don't see any gaping holes in the D that weren't there prior to the injuries. Sekera is tremendously average and Myers was hardly playing his best hockey when he broke his wrist, so that leaves Ehrhoff as the only loss that could noticeably impact the production of the defense. He logs huge minutes and is generally steady, but keep in mind that injury replacements aren't always the detriment they may appear to be on paper. Whereas teams key on Ehrhoff every game and keep him in check, guys like Brennan and McNabb aren't nearly as well-scouted yet, so good teams can take advantage of this, um, advantage.

- Good idea by Ruff to play Kassian with Vanek and utilize his talents as a top six forward

(Well, that didn't last long. Maybe two shifts.)

- There's a lot of talk about M.A. Gragnani's subpar performance. Yes, you'd rather have Ehrhoff and Myers, but if Grags isn't capable of filling in to the point where the team expects to win, he shouldn't have made the roster in the first place.

(Translation: I'm tired of listening to this club blame losses in part on injuries. If Ruff thought Gragnani was good enough to make the team, he should expect him to be good enough to play in this league, even if his ideal role at this point is to be used as an injury sub. I know, shocker.

- Injuries are not the problem. Buffalo is getting outplayed by a team on its sixth game of a roadie that got into town at 2 a.m. the day of the game.

(If anything, Buffalo has impressive depth that would render this rash of injuries essentially moot on many other teams, namely those that realized that body checks are a part of hockey. Not to mention, injuries really only impact specific parts of the game, like special teams or shootouts. If guys like Vanek are playing, you should be fine. Most other players are filler. That said, if Vanek goes down, the Sabres' season is all but over (if it isn't already).

- Speaking of injuries, we're into the part of the season where guys need to start playing with pain. I'd be interested to know how many guys on the shelf right now could play if they really wanted to.

(Tyler Ennis, I'm looking at you. High ankle sprains suck so I could be wrong. However, note to Christian Ehrhoff: If you can't fight without putting yourself out for "weeks," don't fucking fight! It's not like you can win anyway. Kudos, however, to Jason Pominville for sucking it up when he probably felt pretty shitty after having the flu. Very captainly.)

- Great goal allowed by Miller. WEAK!

(Hey, lots of goalies allow goals under their glove arm from bad angles. Just not ones making $6 million a year!)

- Zack Kassian's passing is not good in the first period. Then again, this has been a pretty shitty period by the Sabres in general.

Second Period

- Brennan loses the puck and turns it over in his own zone but recovers to make a nice shot block.

- Equally shitty charging call on Kaleta for what appeared to be a perfectly good smack on Ladislav Smid. Maybe I just missed the part where the refs outlawed hitting tonight. That would at least explain Buffalo's lethargic approach to the game.

- I'm so tired of Ryan Miller and his soft over-the-shoulder goals.

(Given Miller's salary and atrocious season, I honestly doubt he'd get picked up even if he were waived. No shit. So anyone thinking Regier would be able to trade him even if he wanted to may as well stop dreaming.

Third Period

- Buffalo looks like the team that got in at 2 a.m.

- These guys just refuse to hit and take control of an opponent that almost seems to be waiting to be steamrolled. The Oilers weren't even willing to kick Roy's ass after he shot a puck on Khabibulin well after the whistle at the start of the third.

- Against ANY other team not in Edmonton's situation, the Sabres would easily be down 5-2 at this point.

- Sabres used to play down to their competition's level. Now they just don't really seem to give a shit against anyone.

December 28, 2011

"I felt more like myself. It's nice to stay in the game. I wanted to be there for the guys and I felt better. I gave them a chance. I felt like it was a good step forward for myself."

That was a quote from Ryan Miller following the Sabres' 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 20. Miller has played better since his abysmal showing the previous game, when he was yanked after giving up three soft goals in a row to the Penguins. But it's pretty hard not to play better than that.

The last thing I want to hear from my $6.25 million goalie is that it's "nice to stay in the game" and that he's taking a "step forward." Are you kidding me? That would be amazing coming from a goalie making half Miller's salary. The point is, Miller's being paid to be an elite goalie, yet he's being outperformed by some backups across the league.

No worries, though. When Tyler Myers returns all will be well and the Sabres will win again. Cats will play with dogs. Unicorns will prance down the streets.

December 13, 2011

Fifteen years ago I would be freaking out about the Sabres recent spate of injuries. But I guess there's just something about pushing 40 that makes you realize there's more important things in life than worrying about the respective fates of charmed 20-somethings.

Or maybe it's just that I can barely bring myself to care much about sports these days after realizing that I'm now too old to play pro hockey even if I were once good enough (which I wasn't).

Whatever the case, there's a certain amount of satisfaction that comes with my newfound sobriety towards the Buffalo Sabres (however depressing its genesis may be). Whereas I was unable to approach my Sabres analysis with little more than unbridled emotion back in the day, I now find myself capable of applying the same type of rationality that I bring to virtually any other situation. (Okay, most of the time.. fuck off.)

Like every other Sabres fan, I've had a long time to assess and digest the abilities of Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier. A looooong time. These guys are clearly two of the best in their field at what they do. They're both Grade A talents with A-Class character. I don't think that's ever really been in question. One thing that is in question, however, is whether these guys are the right men for the job in Buffalo.

After all these years together, Ruff and Regier might as well literally be joined at the hip. Regier is not going to fire Ruff. If Ruff ever goes, Regier will be going with him. Regier will never fire his best friend. Never. You just don't do that sort of thing, and as a man I can at least respect that.

I'd be willing to bet it's Ruff and Regier's relationship over the past dozen years that's been the primary cause of most of the good that's come to the Sabres organization during that span, nearly all of which probably goes unseen by the fans and in some cases even ownership. Building trust between employer and employee is crucial to performance; treating subordinates as peers often breeds respect. However, too much trust can lead to complacency. And if you're not careful, being too friendly with your players can extinguish respect for authority. You get the idea. Every benefit has a cost.

And so it is with the injury bug.

As I think we've all written a couple times, I don't like the team's reliance on all the injuries as the reason for its poor record the past few weeks. If anything, it's primarily the roster players who have made untimely decisions that have cost the Sabres wins. That said, Ruff has done a good job managing the lineup and lines during a stretch that no coach would ever want to endure. Although hardly tough decisions, he has rewarded Kassian for his outstanding play with increased ice time, and he's also made the right call in keeping Brayden McNabb in Buffalo despite Mike Weber's return to the lineup. Similarly, the fantastic play of guys like Kassian, McNabb, Tropp, and Brennan -- especially given their NHL inexperience -- is a testament to Regier's ability to draft and develop top talent. These two guys will have jobs in the NHL as long as they want them.

Ironically, however, we're nevertheless left to wonder why the Sabres play so inconsistently night in and night out. (This is not unique to the Sabres, but not every coach enjoys a 13-year tenure with one club either.) Why they refuse to finish checks unless they feel like it. Why Thomas Vanek, Cody McCormick, and Pat Kaleta have trouble finding teammates who will actually bust their asses every goddamned shift like they do. Why a system that has lost effectiveness after taking teams by surprise six years ago seemingly hasn't adapted even though the rest of the league has caught on to the secret. Why a power play has, on balance, buh-lown! for years. These are the responsibilities of the coach. Ruff has undeniably done very good things with subpar NHL talent over the years -- if we're to believe Regier's hands were tied under Golisano and Quinn, that is -- so I don't question his ability to coach; I question why he has not gotten better results considering he's had the luxury of knowing his team better than anyone save perhaps for Barry Trotz.

That said, even more interesting amid all these injuries is the Darcy Regier situation. Will GMDR finally move assets before they've overstayed their welcome now that we almost unquestionably know that the kids on the farm can play and perform? The silver lining to the injury bug is that Regier now knows (or should know) he has the luxury of dumping salary to gain cap space while simultaneously improving the team. (I know, right!!) Does anyone even remember Brad Boyes? Zack Kassian not only outperforms him right now, he costs over three million a year less. (Oh, and he kind of resembles that nasty Milan Lucic guy, who I would love to have on my team.) Corey Tropp is going to be awesome, so Regier could likely shop Kaleta right now before his propensity for injuries renders him damaged goods. Finally, even though Jochen Hecht brings intangibles and leadership, you can't tell me Szczechura isn't an even swap offensively if Hecht and his four million could be packaged to land one more big gun up front. By the way, we've still got Marcus Foligno in Rochester.

And I know Buffalo can never seem to have enough defensemen, but right now we have Ehrhoff, Myers, Leopold, Sekera, Gragnani, Regehr, Weber, and McNabb with Brennan, Finley, and Schiestel in the immediate pipeline. Seriously, there is no reason teams even score on us, much less any reason our D can't put the puck in the net every effing game. We have an imbalance of offensive defensemen already with more ready for promotion, so there's at least two that can be moved tomorrow. Myers-McNabb can be Niedermayer-Pronger in a few years, but anyone else is fair game. I think Sekera would look good in Ranger blue.

The tragic irony here is whether you actually want Darcy Regier at the controls when it comes to making decisions that will impact the team for years ahead. Ted Black should have his hands full right now, but if there's one thing that has to change for Regier to keep his job, he has to learn to cut his homegrown players loose. He won't fire Ruff, but if he refuses to acknowledge the opportunities before him and act now, we will have substantive proof that our addiction to untimely injuries is nothing compared to our deep-seated disease that is a complacent GM.

November 21, 2011

So you think you have the luxury of making Mike Weber and Tyler Myers healthy scratches, huh? Apparently the hockey gods were a bunch of talented young defensemen who at times found themselves at odds with their coach.

"We give you two perfectly healthy physical defensemen," you can practically hear them scolding, "and this is how you repay us!"

No longer. Weber has already been placed on injured reserved, out for "weeks" with an undisclosed upper body injury. Now we find that Tyler Myers will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist suffered during the second period of Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Coyotes.

The Sabres have summoned T.J. Brennan from the Rochester Americans to fill in for Myers Wednesday against Boston. Given that this will be Brennan's first gig in the NHL, we'll obviously have to see how he plays before we know how long he'll be able to stick around.

For a team that started the season with seven healthy, capable defensemen, the D's looking pretty thin now. We'll just have to hope Brennan can at least hold his own. We knew Shaone Morrisonn sucked, but it's pretty bad when a former NHL regular with some size isn't even the first in line to be recalled from the minor league club in an emergency.

Since the news in Sabreland started heating up weeks ago with rumblings of a goalie controversy, the Sabres have been the topic of discussion due to a couple other situations they've put themselves in. Everyone has been caught up in so many different ranges of emotion recently, a few of the sideline notes dating back to the offseason still find themselves settled on the back burner.

The Buffalo Sabres have what I consider to be a lot of semi-valuable dead weight. Stock that can be traded away in order to succeed in piecing together that always tricky chemistry puzzle. Bundling together the correct trade package could look very sexy to another team and bring excellent return in their favor. Return the Sabres need sooner rather than later.

Up until this point, I believe that the Sabres would be a middle of the road, .500 team had it not been for the extraordinary play of Jhonas Enroth. He won in all of his backup appearances and is currently giving this struggling offense/defense some much-needed confidence as they move forward with their only capable netminder. Without knowing the extent of Ryan Miller's injury, I'm reluctant to believe that Lindy would even consider starting Drew MacIntyre, a 28-year old goaltender with only two NHL starts in his entire career. So, it's obvious to me that Darcy Regier needs to start warming up that Blackberry and dive in to some serious trade talks.

Over the weekend, we got to see what happens to a goaltender when he faces 34 shots on the road, gets on a plane, flies back home, and starts in net the next evening. Throughout the course of the 28 shots Enroth faced against the Coyotes, he ended up letting in a few inexcusable ones. For someone who appears to have as much skill, focus and confidence as anyone, that performance was a direct result of the effects from travel and fatigue. And moving forward, after the game Wednesday against Boston, the Sabres will basically be playing every other day for the next few weeks.

Option One: Trade for a capable backup goalie. It's obvious that Jochen Hecht was left on this team in order to encourage Christian Ehrhoff to sign as a free agent. There isn't any other logical explanation for his presence. He's had only three decent seasons with the Sabres (one of them in the pre-lockout era), and I don't know if any of those numbers warrant the type of money he's recieving. It definitely feels like another situation where, somehow, the journeyman of the NHL always seems to find a permanent home in Buffalo. I don't know what his current value is, especially after the concussion, but I think there would be someone out there that would pick up his contract if the deal was sweetened enough on the Buffalo end. He does fill that veteran leadership role, which is ever so valuable to the young teams (Edmonton, Colorado, NYI).

Option Two: Trade for the #1 center who this team will not succeed without. It is absolutely dire for this team to have someone like Ryan Getzlaf or Jason Spezza. A big-bodied, hard-working guy whose size equals his skill. The Sabres currently don't have anyone with both of these characteristics combined, but it has been an almost proven neccesity to winning a cup in the past decade. Players like this bring a ton of grit and pair it with enough talent to put up over 80 points a year. Obviously the price would be pretty steep, as the Sabres would have to give up at least one reputable player. Not just because the other team wants that player; they'd have to do it because they're currently right up against the cap. They don't have the same luxury that the Leafs had a couple years ago, just giving up three picks for Phil Kessel. So, Sabre Nation would more than likely wake up to find themselves without an Ennis, Myers, Leopold or Miller.

Getting rid of an up-and-comer or star goaltender may seem like a very costly price. However, in order to aquire the likes of a Spezza, Getzlaf or Nash (I realize he's not a center), you have to be willing to take these risks. Risks that this team has never quite taken during the past few "building years."

The time to win is now, and the Sabres have more expendable talent than they'd like to admit (Hecht, Miller, Kaleta, Boyes, and Sekera among them). We'll just see if Regier can pull the trigger on a deal that will send over the final gear for this engine. In reality, it may only take Enroth and one more premier player to turn this pretty good team into a great one.

As I was lying on my couch back on April 21 watching reruns of the 2011 first round playoff matchups on NHL Network, I wasn't expecting to hear the best hockey quote of all time (well, save perhaps for the time Jim Schoenfeld called referee Don Koharski a fat pig ... hard to top that one).

Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher was at the podium taking questions after his guys had just lost in double overtime to go down 3-1 in their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Then it happened. You faintly heard a reporter ask Boucher if he thought the Lightning could come back to win the series. Boucher shot him a glare as if he was imagining blowing the guy's head off with laser beams and said (and I paraphrase), "If you knew me you wouldn't even ask me that question." He said he'd seen it before, done it before.

And then he said the one thing that made me an instant fan: "It's not about momentum; it's about desperation."

Apparently so. The Lightning came back to eliminate the Pens in Game 7 and went on to sweep the Caps in round two.

Notwithstanding the fact that I think that's a great quote in general, I think it resonated with me more than it normally would have because if there's one thing that consistently seems to be missing from Buffalo's game, it's desperation. Or, more specifically, 60 minutes worth per game. The Sabres always seem to be able to pour it on in the last few minutes when they're down 4-1.

Now, I realize it might seem a bit silly to complain about this right now. At the time of this writing the Sabres are currently sitting atop the Northeast division and are in second place in the Eastern Conference with 24 points, just one behind Philly and three behind Minnesota and Chicago, who lead the NHL.

Still, to me it feels like the Sabres have this statistical advantage despite their play, not because of it. Before you dismiss me as a garden-variety cynic, consider this: a mere two points separate Buffalo from eighth place Ottawa. That means that by the next time the Sabres lace up for a game, which is two days from now, the standings could look considerably different.

Yes, it's only November. There's not even any such thing as the "playoff picture" until February. But considering the recent games against Boston and New Jersey looked like "Men vs. Boys I & II," respectively, with the Sabres being thoroughly outworked and overmatched in both contests, I see their current 12-8 record as a bit of an anomaly. If Vanek and Pominville were starting as slowly as the rest of the team, these guys would probably be mired in last place with the Islanders.

Through the first 20 games of the season, the Sabres' outings seem to be going a little like my golf game. It never fails. I'll hit a monster 300 yard drive down the middle of the fairway, then shank the approach and five-putt. And, of course, whenever it takes me six strokes to reach the green, I'll sink my first putt. In short, if I could pick and choose my best shots from each hole and magically combine them into one series every time, I'd be on the pro tour.

And so it seems to be going for Buffalo. They've tended to start slowly, especially at home, and if Miller or Enroth have been able to withstand the first 10-20 minutes, they can usually pull out a W. And just when they finally come out of the gate flying and taking the fight to the opponent, as they did Saturday night against the Coyotes in Buffalo, Enroth lets in a couple softies and turns in a subpar performance.

Thankfully for the Sabres and their fans, these guys actually are pro athletes. While there's no hope for my golf game, these guys still have a sporting chance to learn to put together a full 60 minutes of hockey every game (Psst: I'd even take 55). Maybe it's true that Leino just has to find some chemistry with new linemates and Ehrhoff has to find some open lanes to the net. Regardless, it all starts with determination. And not just by Matt Ellis and Corey Tropp.

With injuries starting to pile up -- Hecht, Ennis, McCormick, Miller, and Weber are all still out and you know the news isn't going to be great on Myers -- it's gut check time for the Sabres. No better time to start digging deep than the rematch against Boston on Wednesday.

November 18, 2011

So the Sabres play the Hurricanes tonight. Currently residing at the bottom of their division at 6-10-3 with a 3-7 record in their last 10 games, the Hurricanes should be easy pickin's for the 1st place Sabres. SHOULD! If ever there was a game to try to get Ryan Miller back on the horse, this would be it. Unfortunately, that's not in the cards tonight as Miller recovers from his Lucic-induced concussion. I'm hopeful, however, that the team as a whole will snap out their collective funk against what should be a much weaker team. I don't even care if they lose. I just want to see some aggessive play, guys taking the body, crashing the corners, and being physical. And for the love of Christ, a night without giving up a shortie would be fantastic! My friend Heather, who lives in Charleston, SC, made the trek to Raleigh to take her son to his first Sabres game tonight. Here's hoping he brings them some luck!

Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to watch the game tonight. Instead, I'll be following on Twitter and WGR's live broadcast via my phone if I can. Unless, by some miracle, things change and I get to watch, I'll leave the post-game analysis to my partners in crime.

On a side note, Tyler Myers avoided a suspension for his hit on Dainius Zubrus the other night. The fact that the hit was even in question is absurd. However, the Lucic/Miller incident aside, I've been pretty pleased with Shanahan's handling of issues that come before him. He really is an improvement over Colin Campbell. Anyway, here's hoping Myers continues his off-the-chain play from Wednesday.

November 17, 2011

... that every time the Sabres go on the power play I feel like it's the other team that has the advantage?

... that Sabres players make the same canned PR statements year after year following subpar performances like needing to "come out stronger," "get a better start," "play more physically," etc., but they rarely seem to take their own advice? I mean, after all this time, wouldn't you think they could at least fix the shit they've actually identified as problems?

... that Tyler Myers plays like dog shit after signing a career contract until his ass is sent to the press box?

... that Andrej Sekera was signed to a contract with a $2.75 million cap hit over four years yet still basically blows?

... that the Sabres still refuse to put anybody on their ass after they get too close to their goalie even after they've been outed as candyasses after the Miller hit? (Wait, I think I just answered my own question. My bad.)

November 16, 2011

It seems to me that there are years where the Sabres adopt a specific persona. In 2006-2007, they started out like a house afire, seemed unbeatable on any given night, and won the President's trophy. Last year, on an almost nightly basis, they played solid in the 1st period, completely disappeared in the 2nd period, and then came out in the 3rd and played great hockey, and maybe they pulled out a win, maybe not.

Although we're only a month and a half in, it's becoming rapidly and painfully clear that there are two traits that are going to be the hallmarks of this year's team... the first is to give up soft goals early (and lots of them), many times short handed, and then try to fight back late in the game. The second is flat, lazy play (the Vanek/Adam/Pominville line excluded), especially in the defensive zone.

As strategies go, this one sucks! The fact that this team is in first place is a fluke. At some point, the lazy play is going to blow up in their faces (like it did tonight) and they're going to find themselves in the middle of a lengthy losing streak, wondering why "the bounces just aren't going our way." Sound familiar? It should! It seems to happen every year right around this time. But this year is especially troubling. This team has more apathy than a team full of up-and-comers should have. Scratch that... it has more apathay than a bunch of multi-millionaire 20-somethings should have! I'm not going to beat a dead horse, but if you can't drum up some energy when one of the biggest goons in the league, Milan Lucic, takes your goalie's head off, you've got a serious problem as a team. Two days later in Montreal, Erik Cole took a run at Enroth in the crease and, again, no response. In tonight's game, Enroth got abused in the 1st period and FINALLY Tyler Myers stepped in and at least pretended to want to throw down, but the effort was feeble at best. (He made up for it by lighting up Brodeur twice, and by cleaning Dainius Zubrus'seseses clock in the 2nd. And for the record, show of hands, who knew Zubrus was still in the NHL? Anyone? Anyone?)

I'll give credit where credit is due, they get a little scrappy once they're down by a few, but how long can they keep winning games like that? For those of us old enough to remember watching Lindy Ruff in uniform rather than in a suit and tie, this season's going to be rough on the ticker.